


On Ice

by purplefox



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ice Skating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 08:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6947449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplefox/pseuds/purplefox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi loved being on ice but the thing he wanted the most was a partner but not any partner, one perfect for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Ice

When Kakashi first met him, Naruto had mumbled that no one wanted to be his partner. That no one even wanted him to be there in the first place. Kakashi could not say what made him stop, talk to a boy half his age that day.

But he had helped Naruto put on his blades. Blades a little beaten a little battered but still good. The others had not wanted to be around him so Kakashi had ignored them all and pulled Naruto with him onto the ice. He had held onto the boy’s slim arms and made sure his first time on ice was a magical glide.

It had been fun, Kakashi had not worked on technique too much or even tricks he just wanted Naruto to enjoy being on the ice. Such hurtful words form his classmates might have made him hate the idea of skating forever, Kakashi did not want that.

And it had been worth it. Naruto had laughed and slowly relaxed in Kakashi’s grip. Kakashi rarely had partners on the ice. When he did they were professionals and he had to spend time getting to know them and their rhythm. Figure out how much to bend and how much to demand.

It was nice guiding Naruto because he gave himself over to Kakashi and trusted him. Although they had met only a while prior. It had been a good experience.

On their second lap Kakashi gave Naruto more control. The boy was light enough that he could easily manipulate his body but Kakashi waited.

“Can we speed up?” Naruto asked on their third lap. He had been slowly moving to accommodate Kakashi. Kakashi was still the driving force but Naruto’s balance had been improving.

“Not yet, you still have a long way to go.” Kakashi had laughed before he brought Naruto to his side. Naruto’s legs tried to move along with him but Kakashi knew the boy had realized the one really doing anything was Kakashi. “What do you think?”

“This is…” Naruto had breathed… “Fun!”

“Yes it is.” Kakashi admitted. Thoughts of the training and the other problems came to mind but he pushed them away. This child did not need to know about any of that kind of stuff. Right now he was a child and needed only to think about the fun part of it not the competitive side.

All of Naruto’s classmates had noticed that Naruto was on the ice. They had finally noticed Kakashi’s presence and finally the teacher had too.

“Want to learn how to do it on your own?” Kakashi asked as he used one hand to tug Naruto alone.

“Yeah!” Naruto had laughed. “Please!”

“Okay then.” Kakashi chuckled. “Then keep your hand in mine, we are going to do this slowly.” And they had. Slow movements. It took about half an hour until Naruto had been able to make a lap with only the minimum balance from Kakashi. It had impressed him.

“I want to see you do it too.” Naruto had muttered as they finally took a break. They had not glanced towards the other students. Kakashi watched Naruto to make sure he was fine before he went back on the ice.

He performed a simple routine, nothing fancy. Mostly a warm up. a solo act. Nothing that people would copy, nothing too difficult. But something that would stay in memories as something graceful.

Kakashi heard Naruto’s laughing and cheers and smiled to himself before he skated back to where he had left the boy. “I think that is good enough for now.” He teased.

“You must love skating; we only came on a trip.” Naruto sighed as he started to take the skates off. “We’re supposed to be getting ready to pick people for the teams but…” Naruto sighed and his mood visibly dimmed.

“I practise here every day.” Kakashi shrugged as he took off his own skates. “When school is over of course, well sometimes I come here when class is boring but you shouldn’t do that and I really love skating. It is fun, but the type of skating I want to do… I have to improve so I can do it at anytime.” He smiled at Naruto. “Well it is hard to explain.”

“Can I watch you? Help you?” Naruto’s smiled had been hopeful. “I don’t have anything to do any way.”

“Well…” Kakashi trailed off. “You have to make sure you do a few things for me then.”

X

Kakashi liked figure skating… no, he loved it. The hard work. The strain and the struggle. Ever since he had first started he had known he could live on the ice forever if he had to but his true dream… well it was difficult to actually achieve.

In Naruto he had found a sort of kindred spirit. Kind of.

Naruto was alone too. And no one payed him any attention but he had come to love the ice even though he did not love it the way Kakashi did.

“Say.” Naruto mumbled as they left together. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine. Just that school gets stressful sometimes.” Kakashi reassured. “I have this place and now I have you too.”

“But you said the coach yelled at you.” Naruto clutched tightly to his backpack. “That means you got into trouble again.”

Well it was true. “It’s because I don’t compromise enough to his liking.” Kakashi patted Naruto on the head softly. “In his head I should be working with my partners much better but I don’t like the people picked out for me.” Kakashi admitted. “They think I want to skate solo. That isn’t it at all, I just want them to see my strengths.”

“I don’t get it.” Naruto muttered.

“Me neither.” Kakashi sighed. “Just the routines they want me to do, that doesn’t show me at my best. It shows my partner at my best but I’m left feeling like a prop. That isn’t what I want at all.”

“You want to go to the competitions?” Naruto asked. He had stopped walking.

“More than that. I’m in high school now but one day I’ll go overseas. I’ll work hard and then I’ll perform in a way that people will see how good I am and how good my partner is. They’ll see we are partners. Real partners.” Kakashi dropped on one knee so he could pat Naruto on his head. “I want to skate with someone who loves skating. Who thinks it is fun and make people watching think how much fun it is.”

“Like us!” Naruto answered and Kakashi sniggered.

“Right.” He responded as he patted Naruto on the head again. “Like us.”

“Since I can’t do what the others are doing… Nobody will team up with me except you.” Naruto frowned. “You think I can do like you?”

“You want to do what I do?” Kakashi blinked. “But you just started.”

“It’ll be fun right? And I like it! I want to do what you do. Go fast and then slow down then spin on one leg and do the slide backwar-“

Kakashi placed a hand over Naruto’s babbling mouth as he considered him. He had been keeping Naruto’s knowledge fairly basic. That Naruto knew of what he had done. That he knew how Kakashi skated. “Naruto-kun, have you been skipping school and watching me?”

“No…” Naruto mumbled as he looked away from Kakashi.

“Naruto.” Kakashi sighed. “Remember our deal. You have to behave.”

“I do my homework and I study.” Naruto mumbled. “But I want to be with you more!”

And what could he say to that? Well he could put together a little training program for Naruto. Something to keep him occupied. Kakashi had been pushed hard and to make sure Naruto did not do anything he was unprepared for… well he would have to be responsible.

“Okay, first thing we are going to do is see what we can do about your eating habits.” Kakashi frowned. “You’re pretty light for your age. I know how guardians can be so we’ll find a way to work around things so you can always have something to eat. Then we’ll build up your strength.”

“They suck.” Naruto mumbled and Kakashi knew the boy spoke about his guardians.

“They tend to.” He sighed as he thought about his own guardians. “They tend to.”

X

“Improvising is how you will survive.” Kakashi instructed as he held Naruto’s hand. “You have to get as much as you can for as little as you can. You have to figure out how things work so you can get as much for little. You can’t afford to be picky either.” He reminded Naruto. “Now bargain sales are good but buying in bulk is better.”

“Got it.” Naruto nodded determinedly. “But won’t we run into all the housewives and househusbands?”

“Yup. So that is where you will learn how to be agile. You have to move fast without disturbing anything. It will help your reflexes.” Kakashi smiled. “Ready?”

X

“Not bad.” Kakashi smiled as Naruto took the lead. “Not bad at all Naruto now try the jump again, nothing too big, just small.”

“Right!” Naruto’s jump was clumsy and Kakashi’s heart remained in his throat until the boy managed to get back his balance.

“Perfect.” Kakashi smiled as he skated up to Naruto. “One more.”

X

“So why a mask?” Naruto asked curiously.

“Lots of reasons but the main one I don’t want to have to worry about maintaining a proper expression.” Kakashi shrugged as he finished putting on his outfit. “When it’s down wait for me, I’ll take you for something to eat and we can look over your homework.

“Fine.” Naruto yawned as he got to his feet. Kakashi caught himself staring after Naruto as he left the changing room and shook his head. It had been a year since he met Naruto. Naruto’s school situation had barely changed. The students still ignoring him but Naruto had ceased to care.

Skating had given him confidence. Thanks to Kakashi’s quick thinking and unwavering rules Naruto’s grades had improved and Naruto had started to look healthy. Naruto had even won a few races at his school.

And Naruto still loved the ice. And Naruto had helped Kakashi as well although the boy did not know it. After all, Kakashi had not known how much he had been suffering until he had focused on Naruto’s own problems.

Kakashi was still searching for the perfect partner however. Not exactly perfect but someone who could appreciate his love for the ice and could appreciate his talent. He was sick of being fawned over for his figure.

X

 

Kakashi had not even noticed their audience until it was all over. He had been elsewhere unfortunately so he had Naruto had to resort to texts to keep in touch. College was a lot harder than high school had been.

So to have Naruto join him on the ice… after their long separation well Kakashi had not cared too much about the details. He had just smiled as Naruto kept pace with him. They were in sync. Naruto had watched him for ages. he knew when Kakashi was about to turn.

He knew when Kakashi wanted to get closer. They had their own routine. Sometimes Kakashi took Naruto by the hand and led him through twists and turns. Sometimes it was a total mess of tricks that started and ended by Naruto’s prompting.

Sometimes it was just them doing whatever they wanted as they talked. Sometimes it was slow glides together as they caught up with each other. Naruto had grown plenty since they had first met. He had confidence. He laughed more and he was friendly.

His grades had gone up and he had changed schools. He had friends now. He had people that wanted to support him. Kakashi stayed back as the people who had been there all along came down to talk to Naruto.

He allowed himself to study Naruto for a small while before he got surprised by how fast the boy whirled around.

“Come on! I want you to meet these people.” Naruto smiled as he grabbed his hand. Kakashi felt himself tugged forward and he went with it.

X

Kakashi’s heart was in his throat. He had been looking at Naruto for such a long time. For years at this point but as he sat in the stands as he watched Naruto perform he had to admit that he had missed plenty. They had been together since they first met. Got each other through many troubles and problems. Shared dreams and hopes. Naruto had wanted to keep skating no matter how and as Kakashi watched Naruto in the finals he had to admit that Naruto was exquisite.

He had been with Naruto so much. Guiding him or following him yet as he watched from a distance he had to admit that he was amazed. Stunned, enthralled. Naruto was beautiful. He had been a cute child but this was different. He commanded, flowed and his love for the ice showed on his face.

Naruto had won obviously; those he was competing with could not hold a candle to him.

X

“Kakashi! You’re home!” Kakashi had a moment to think as Naruto came running to him. He was dimly aware of the lingering people but everything just bubbled over and when he caught himself Naruto was staring down at him his legs locked around his waist as Kakashi held him up.

“Sorry!” Kakashi gasped. “I wasn’t thinking. Your routine was so smooth and perfect and really touching and I got so caught up in it.”

“Good to hear.” Naruto grinned. “But I didn’t know you were coming! Solo run finished? You are on break?”

“About that.” Kakashi’s grip tightened. “I know you still have school but you’re sixteen now… Naruto… would you consider entering a competition with me?”

“What?” Naruto squirmed in his grip and Kakashi released him. Kakashi laughed at Naruto’s blank face before he pressed a quick kiss to the side of the boy’s lips.

“You’re perfect.” Kakashi grinned. “If it is you then I can perform perfectly.”

“Really?” Naruto questioned.

“Really.” Kakashi reassured.

“Then let’s do it!” Naruto’s leap took him into Kakashi’s arms again and Kakashi allowed himself to laugh as he span Naruto around. He could not wait to show the world how they were together. he could not wait to work together with Naruto. Maybe aim for the top, the summit.


End file.
